Rear-end separator for paper feeders



2 Sheets-Sheet 1 R. J. wATERwoRTH Filed July 19, 1927 INVENTOR. HANH, eruforfz ATTORNEY.

Ja-n. 28,v 1930.

REAR END SEPARATOR FOR PAPER FEEDERS Jan. 28, 1930. R. J. wATERwoRTH REAR END SEPARATOR FOR PAPER FEEDERS 2 SheetsSheet. z

Filed July 19, 1927 IN VEN TOR.

' ATTORNEY.

Patented Jan. 28, 1930 narran stares earner l aerien ROBERT J. WATER-"WORTH, OF SIDNEY, OHIO, ASSEGNOR TO LAFAYETTE M. STUDEVANT,

OF SDNEYOHO aannam) snrnna'ron non PAPER rnnnnns Application area Jury-19,

This invention relates to mechanism for feeding paper as, for instance, feedingpaper to paper folding mechanisms, and particularly to certain improvements upon the paper feeding mechanism illustrated, described and claimed in my Patent #1,605,309, of November 2, 1926.

The general object of the present invention is to provide aleaf separator of a novel con- 10, struction and which pneumatically engages the top leaf of a pile of leaves and shifts the sheet at the corner, causing a pronounced bulge in the sheet.

A. further object is to provide means whereby a et of air from the exhaust line of a pump may be projected through a flutter tube beneath this bulge.

A still further Objectis to provide means for operating said separator in correspondff ence with the operation of a suction disk which delivers the sheets of paper to a fold# ing machine, for instance, this mechanism being fully illustrated and described in my afore-mentioned Patent #1,605,309, of No-V vember 2, v1926.

Another object is to provide means of this character which'includes a separator operator cam moving in correspondence with the suction disk of the machine.

Swingin@ movement of the vseparator' nozzle o so as to adjust the machine to sheets of differ ent sizes.

the following description,

My invention is illustrated in the accom-v `panying drawings, wherein y Figure 1 is atop plan view of a paperfeed ing mechanism constructed in accordanceV with my invention;

Figure 2 is a longitudinal sectional view on 5 9 the line 2 2 of Figure 1;

Still another object isv to provide a sepa-v rator which includes a separator nozzle conf 1927. Serial No. 206,907.

Figure 3 is a fragmentary elevation ofthe lifter'finger and allied parts;

Figure t is an elevation of the suction disk showing in dotted linesk the auxiliary suction wheel and part-s. l

The general construction and operation ofk a paper feeding machine of the type to which my attachment is applied is fully illustrated and described in my Patent #1,605,309 and, therefore, there is no necessity of detailing the construction and operation of this form of paper feeding machine.

The paper feeding machine, however, includes a frame and means for supporting a pile of paper sheets A within said frame and feeding these sheets upward. This frame supports a pump (not shown) which withdraws air from the main vacuum line. The frame of the machine includes the lateral bars 10. These lateral bars support the transverse bars 12 which extend over the pile off in the patent to deliver only one sheet of.

paper to one revolution of the suction disk or f wheel or may be constructed so as to deliver two sheets to each revolution', as 1s illustrated in my application Serial #748,807, filed November 19, 1924. This suction disk, whetherv constructed to deliver one sheet upon each revolution or two sheets upon each revolution,

- is connected by a pipe 15 to the main suction line of the machine which extends to a pump, as described in said patentapplication. As

this disklt rotates, it will apply suction to the sheet of paper and pull the sheet of paper o of the top of the pile and deliver it to the foldinfr mechanism or other mechanism whic Other objects will appear 1n the course of i C is disposed diagonally to the length of the' supporting bar 16, and pivotally mounted n upon this clamp for swinging motion is the separator nozzle 18 which is connected by a pipe 19 to the main suction line which connects the pipe 15 to the suction pipe.

Mounted upon supporting brackets 2O is a transversely extending shaft 21 carrying upon it the downwardly extending swinging arm 22. Mounted upon the shaft 13 and, therefore, rotating in time with the disk 14 is the cam 23. This is shown as a double throw cam having opposed protuberant portions defined by the opposed valleys 24. The arm 22 is engaged by the peripheral face of this cam and the arm is held against the cam and urged inward toward the axis thereof by a spring 25 which, as illustrated, is connected to one of the brackets 20 and to the arm 22 but which may be of any suitable character.

Mounted upon a clamp 26 which may be mounted upon the frame of the machine in any suitable manner is the flexible Bowden tube 27. This extends upward and rearward and is supported in any suitable manner and has its rear end disposed behind the separator nozzle 18. Operating through this tube 27 is a Bowden wire 28. This wire is engaged with the separator nozzle 18. It is obvious, therefore, that when the arm 22 is forced inward, the wire 28 will be pushed longitudinally through the tube and will push the separator nozzle 18 forward and that when the protuberant port-ion of the cam 23 shifts the arm 22 outward, the wire 28 will be pulled, which will retract the separator nozzle.

For the purpose of adjusting the arc of movement of the arm 22, I mount upon one of the brackets 2O the lug 2S) through which passes the adjusting or stop screw 30. This is held in any adjusted position by means of the set nut 31. It will be obvious that when this screw 30 is turned inward, it will project any desired predetermined dist-ance beyond the lug 29 and will engage the arm 22 upon its inward movement and thus limit the inward movement of the arm and thus limit the forward swinging movement of the separator nozzle.

I have illustrated a double throw cam 23 and, therefore, it will be understood that the disk 13 is so constructed as to deliver two sheets to one revolution of the disk. A single throw cam, however, may be used where a single feed disk is used. The clamp 17 is adjustable on bar 16 so as to cause the separator to be adjusted to any length sheet within the range of the feeder and this bar 17 is adjustable laterally to any width sheet within the range of the feeder.

The operation of this mechanism is as follows: When the machine is set in motion, the cam roller 22n which is carried by the arm 22 follows the cam 23 and when the roller 22"=l drops into a valley of the cam, the lever or arm 22 moves toward the shaft 13. This action pushes the wire 28 in the cable 27 and as this cable at its rear end is bent around to a U-shape, the wire 28 at its rear end moves toward the front of the machine and comes in contact with the separator nozzle and pushes the nozzle forward. The nozzle being connected to the vacuum line acts to pull the sheet at one corner diagonally forward, thus throwing a pronounced bulge in the sheet. Coacting with the action of the separator nozzle is an air jet 32 connected to a vacuum line 33, which in turn is connected to the main suction line in any suitable manner and the ejection of this blast of air through the jet nozzle 32 or flutter tube acts to flutter one sheet of paper with reference to the next sheet so as to separate the two sheets. The main suction wheel or disk 14 now carries the sheet forward and the separator nozzle 18 returns to bottom center as the cam roller 22a rides out of the valley of the cam. The separator nozzle 18 now engages the next adjacent sheet and holds it while the dwell of the cam is passing around and the top sheet is moving forward and suction is still on.

In Figure 4, I have shown a double throw 'disk 14 and also illustrate in connection with this disk a small suction disk 14n which operates in conjunction therewith and which rotates in the direction of the arrow or counter to the direction of rotation of the main disk 14. Figure 4 shows the position of the main disk and small disk when the cam is in the position shown in Figure 2 of the drawings, and inasmuch as this construction is fully illustrated and described in my pending application, Serial #748,807, led November 19, 1924, it will not be necessary to do more than state the coaction existing between this suction disk 14, the small disk 14, and the rear end separator. In Figures 2 and 4, the small suction disk 14 is just engaging with the top sheet of the pile of sheets and the cam 23 is so set that the movement is just beginning on the rear end separator. The small disk 14a is now moving the front margin of the top sheet rearward, while the rear end separator is moving the rear edge forward diagonally, buckling the sheet from both ends. In Figure 3, the rear end separator has buckled the rear end of the sheet, while at this time the small suction disk has been cut olf from tractive action and the large suction wheel or disk 14 is at this time starting to cut in the sheet to carry it foi'- ward and derives benefit from the slack caused in the rear end of the sheet by the action of the rear end separator. This gives the large suction 'disk an excellent chance to get firm traction on the sheet before it is required to pull the sheet away from the rear end separator nozzle.

The action of removing the sheet from the rear end separator nozzle at this time is a peeling 0H action and does not retard or cause Cil 1 with the action of the suction wheel and this opening is lonly uncovered momentarily because the sheet next to the-advancing one is drawn to the nozzle by the vacuum immediately the advancing sheet has been taken off.

This secondl sheet is, therefore, drawn to the separator nozzle as this separator moves rearward from the position shown in Figure 3 to that shown in Figure 2, so that in addition to holding the second sheet it carries the f second sheet back into register with the stop at the back end of the pile.

The purpose of thel adjusting screw is to cut off theamount of stroke of the separator nozzle 18 for the reason that small size Y sheets do not require so much stroke as the larger size sheets. The full stroke on a small size sheet tends to twist the sheet as there is not enough paper 'to flex upward and givethe bulge that the large size sheet will require ,of or take. The screw 30 regulates the amount ing device illustrated in my prior patent above referred to and pending application before referred to, I do not wish -to be limited to this userr as it might be applied to l many other forms of paper feeding mechanisms.

It will be seen that this device is very simple, efficient and is very vcheap to manufacture. Devices for doing similar work on the rear end of a pile of sheets are usually costly due to the large 'number of different parts and the intricate mechanism involved.

I claim l. The combination with a 'paper feeding mechanism, of a rear end separator includfor operating said member in a direction to ing a fixed support, a member oscillatably mounted on thefixed support and having an opening on its sheet-contacting face yand having means for exhausting airthrough said opening to secure` pneumatic engagement with the paper.

2. rIlhe combination with an intermittently operable paper feeding mechanism, of a rear end sheet separator including a movable 'ji sheet engaging member having an orifice onl its lower face, means for exhaustingthe air from within the sheet engaging member to thereby secure tractive engagement with the paper by said member during a portion of its -movement while said member is moving toward the paper feeding mechanism, means buckle the paper while the paper feeding `mechanism is not acting upon the sheet, and f means for forciiig'a blast of air beneath the means feed a sheet, a rear end separator including a for-V wardly and rearwardly oscillatable suction member, means for exhausting the air within thesuction member to thereby secure tractive engagement withthe sheet, means operated by the paper feeding mechanism for shifting said member forward during the period when the sheet is not being moved forward bythe paper feeding means to thereby buckle the sheet and shifting said member rearward when the paper feeding means is operatively engaging the sheet to shift it forward, and means for forcing a blast of air beneath the sheet of paper as it is buckled to thereby iiutter the sheet. i

4. In a sheet feeder, pneumatically operating means to buckle a rear corner of the top sheet of a pile of sheets, means to discharge air beneath the buckled sheet, and intermittently operable feeding means, said sheetbuckling means being automatically shifted toward the feeding means during the period when the sheet feeding means is not acting to shift the sheet forward and being automatically shifted rearward to engage the knext sheet and hold it from forward movement as the Ceeding means shifts the top, sheet forwar 5. In a sheet feeding means, a rotatablev pneumatically operated feeding means, said means acting during a portion of its rotation to project a sheet, pneumatically operating means oscillatable in a direction diagonal to the direction of movement of the feeding means 4while the rotatable sheet feeding means is not projecting the sheet and acting to buckle a rear corner of the sheet, means actuated automatically by the feeding means for operating said buckling means', and'r means for causing the discharge of a blast ofv air beneaththe buckled portion of the sheet to therebyy Hutter the same.

6. In a sheet feeding mechanism, a support for a pile of sheets, a constantly rotatable feeding means, said means acting during a portion of its rotation Ito project a sheet, a shaft upon which the feeding means is mounted and carrying a cam, a vacuuni nozzle operatively supported for swinging movement in a direction diagonal to the direction of movement of the feeding means,

means engaged by said cam for swinging ther nozzle forward during the period whenl the forward endof the sheet is held from forward movement and for swinging the nozzle rearward into engagement with the next sheet below as the feeding means operates to force the rst sheet forward, and means for causing the evacuation of air from the nozzle as the nozzle moves forward.

an in- 7. In a sheet feeding mechanism, a support for a pile of sheets, a constantly rotatable feeding means, said means acting during a portion of its rotation to project a sheet, a shaft upon which the feeding means is mounted and carrying a cam, a vacuum nozzle operatively supported for swinging movementin a direction diagonal to the direction of movement of the feeding lneans, an element oscillated by said cam, a Bowden wire connecting said oscillatable element with the vacuum nozzle to cause the forward movement of the vacuum nozzle as the arm swings inward and the rearward movement of the vacuum nozzle as the arm swings outward, means for evacuating air from the vacuuln nozzle to thereby cause the lifting of the sheet as the vacuum nozzle swings forward, and means for discharging a blast of air beneath the buckled portion of the sheet to thereby flutter the sheet.

8. In a sheet feeder, a rotatable intermittently operating feeding means adapted t0- engage the front margin of the top sheet of a pile of sheets, a shaft upon which the feeding means is mounted and carrying a cam, a vacuum nozzle mounted for oscillation in a direction diagonal to the direction of movement of the feeding means and to engage the rear end of a sheet, an arm supported above said cam for swinging movement and engageable by the cam, a Bowden wire connected to said arm and extending to a point rearward of the nozzle and then engaging said nozzle whereby upon a rearward movement of the arm the nozzle will be shifted forward, means for evacuating air from the nozzle to secure tractive engagement with the sheet of paper, the cam being so set with reference to the feeding means as to cause a forward movement of the nozzle when the feeding means is inactive, and means for causing the discharge of a blast of air beneath the buckled portion of the sheet to thereby flutter the sheet.

9. In a sheet feeder, pneumatically operating means to buckle the rear corner of a top sheet of a pile of sheets, said means being adjustable longitudinally or transversely of the pile, means to discharge air beneath the buckled sheet, intermittently operable sheet feeding means, the buckling means moving forwardly when the sheet feeding means is inoperative and moving rearward when the sheet feeding means is operative,

and means operated by the feeding means for intermittently oscillating the buckling means in a direction diagonal to the plane of movement of the feeding means.

l0. In a sheet feeding mechanism, means for supporting a pile of sheets, a supporting frame including side members, a transverse shaft located above the forward ends of the pile of sheets and carrying a rotatable pneuinatically operated feeding disk, said feeding disk acting intermittently to feed the sheet from the top of the pile, a cam mounted upon said shaft, a swinging vacuum nozzle, a support for the same adjustable transversely of the sheet, the vacuum nozzle being mounted upon said support for longitudinal adjustment and being supported for movement in a direction diagonal to the direction of movement of the feeding disk, means for oscillating said vacuum nozzle including a cam mounted upon said shaft, an arm engaging the cam, a Bowden wire having one end connected to said arm and the other end extending to the rear of the vacuum nozzle and engaging the vacuum nozzle to swing it forward as the arm moves rearward and rearward as the arm moves forward, the cam being so set with relation to the feeding disk as to cause the forward movement of the vacuum nozzle when the disk is inoperative as regards the sheet, means for causing the evacuation of air from the nozzle as the nozzle moves forward to thus secure tractive engagement with the rear end of the sheet, and means for causing the discharge of a blast of air beneath the buckled portion of the top sheet to thereby Hutter the sheet.

l1. In a sheet feeding means, a pneumatically operated forward feeding device acting to move the forward end of a sheet rearward, pneumatically operated means movable in a direction diagonal to the direction of movement of the feeding means and acting to buckle a rear corner of the sheet, means then pneumatically engaging the forward margin of the sheet to draw the sheet forward, means for causing the discharge of a blast of air beneath the buckled portion of the sheet to thereby flutter the same when the sheet is buckled, and means acting to retract said diagonally movable sheet operating means to its initial position as the upper sheet moves forward.

l2. The combination with a paper feeding mechanism, of a rear end separator including an oscillatable member having means for securing tract-ive engagement with the paper, a constantly rotating member, and a Bowden wire reciprocated by the constantly rotating member and engaging the oscillatable member to oscillate it.

13. The combination with a paper feeding mechanism, of a rear end separator including an oscillatable member having means for securing tractive engagement with the paper, a constantly rotating cam disposed in advance of the rear end separator, a lever oscillated by said cam, and a Bowden wire connected to said lever and extending to the rear of the oscillatable member and connected thereto whereby to oscillate said member by a rotation of the constantly rotating member.

14. The combination with a paper feeding mechanism, of a sheet separator including an oscillatable member having means for securing protective engagement with the paper, a constantly rotating Cam, a pivoted arm engaged by and oseillated by the bam, a Bowden Wire connected to said arm and to the oscillating member to cause the oscillation of the latter by the rotation of the rotating member, and means for adjustably limiting the throw of the arm toward the cam.

In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature.

ROBERT J. VATERWORTH. 

